The City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, has awarded a grant of £81,200 to the Kings Cross Brunswick Neighbourhood Association (KCBNA) to provide weekly English language classes to Somali and Bangladeshi women. This will help them to become better integrated in the community and be able to access services and jobs.

King’s Cross is home to a community of some 16,000 people of whom half were born outside the UK, two-thirds live in social housing, and a high proportion are economically inactive or unemployed.

KCBNA is a local charity run by local people delivering services to people of all ages in the Kings Cross and Brunswick area of Camden. The charity has three community centres and rusn a range of services and projects that strive to enhance the quality of life of residents with activities targeted at older people, young people, and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

By providing weekly English language classes, this new grant will support the local BME (black and minority ethnic) population to break out of cycles of poverty and disadvantage. Language barriers are common obstacles to integration- the project aims to ensure increased access to services and wider participation in the community through supporting those with limited English to improve their skills in the language.

David Farnsworth, Director of City Bridge Trust, said:

“Camden is a wonderfully diverse community and it is vital that all residents have access to the key mainstream services. The delivery of these language classes increases the chances of young people with limited English accessing a good formal education. City Bridge Trust is committed to supporting Londoners to make the city a fairer place to work and live.”

“We are delighted to receive this grant from the City Bridge Trust. KCBNA's mission is to improve the quality of life of local residents with the active involvement of people in King's Cross and neighbouring areas of the London Borough of Camden.

“One of our key objectives is to enable those at risk of social exclusion to develop their potential and improve their opportunities to access education, employment and training. This grant will make a significant difference to the lives of disadvantaged and socially excluded people from the BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) communities living within the King’s Cross area of London.”

City Bridge Trust is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital.

The Trust has awarded around 7,500 grants totalling over £350 million since it first began in 1995.

It helps achieve the Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners.

Case study:

Mrs Nessa (aged 42, came to UK from Bangladesh on a spouse visa) has been attending the ESOL classes and various other activities at KCBNA’s Chadswell Healthy Living Centre for a few years

Mrs Nessa states:

“I really like the classes at KCBNA’s Chadswell Centre. All staff are helpful and very friendly. I attend Maths Class, Computer Class and Basic ESOL Class. It is helping me to improve my skills and ability. I am more confident within myself and can manage basic communication at the GP surgery and my son’s school. I feel good about myself. I would like to go to college for further course and I am delighted that I have now got a job as a chamber maid in a local hotel. I could not have got this job without attending the ESOL classes and getting the support from the KCBNA staff members.”